Wall-fastener.



J. G. FRANCE.

WALL FASTENER.

MAY 20 I916.

APPLICATION FILED 1 ,21 45 1 Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

MAI/

u 1 ./7 T TOR/VEY JASON e. FRANCE, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

WALL-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

Application filed May 20, 1916. Serial No. 98,780.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, Jason G. FRANCE, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Orion daga, in the State of New York, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Wall Fasteners, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in wall fasteners for permitting the securement of grounds and other surface attachments to tile, brick, stone and concrete walls bysc'rews, nails or equivalent fastening means.

I am aware that various forms of expansion bolts have been used for securing surface attachments to walls, but when used in relatively thin tile or hollow building blocks, there is always more or less liability of cracking the walls unless considerable care is taken in limiting the expansion of the bolt.

The main object of my present invention is to obviate this liability by the use of a wood plug against which the gripping members impinge by contraction rather than by expansion for retaining said plug in posi- 39 tion in the wall to receive nails, screws or similar fastening devices for the surface at tachments.

Otherobjects and uses relating to specific I parts of the device will be brought out in the following description.

In thedrawings-Figure I is a perspec tive view of the plug retainer adapted to be inserted in a previously prepared opening in the wall. Fig. 2 is a sectionalview of a portion of a wall and my improved plug retainer therein, the .plug being omitted and the grippingmembers in their normal inoperative positions ready to be forced to their gripping positions by the insertion of the plug. Fig. -'3"is a similar sectional view showing the plug and-'gripping members in operative position as securing an external surface attachment, also in section. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken in the plane of line 44, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a modified form of plug retainer for solid walls, the plug being omitted and the gripping members in their normal inoperative positions. Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to that shown in Fig. 5 with the plug and gripping members in operative position.

The plug retainer shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 is adapted to be used in hollow concrete or tile walls, as A, and comprises a metal tube 1 having a fiat metal base.

or annular flange -2- integrally united to one end thereof, leaving a central opening through the tube and base from end to end for the reception of a wood plug or filling 3.

The tube 1 may be of any desired length sufi'icient to pass through the thickness of one side of the tile wall A and is provided withhinged gripping members 4., preferably in the form of bell-crank levers, hinged at -5 to outturned lugs or ears 6 on opposite sides of the tube and preferably formed integral therewith, as shown'more clearly in Fig. 4 and by dotted lines in' Figs. 2 and 3, said tube being provided with opposite lengthwise slots 7 to permit the gripping members -4- to move therein. These gripping members are disposed in substantially the same transverse plane with their pivots a distance from the base -2 slightly greater than the thickness of the wall -A, said pivots being located at the outer sides of the passageway through the tube to allow the plug 3 to be inserted between the adjacent edges of the gripping members 4 which are provided with gripping arms 8- and bearing arms 9 disposed at substantially right angles to. each other. These gripping members are preferably made of hardened steel or other suitable metal, the arms 8 being provided at their extremities with sharp teeth or bits'-10 projecting inwardly from their adjacent edges when adjusted for. use, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3, and preferably deflected outwardly away-from their pivots so as to engage and embed themselves into opposite sides of the plug -3 to hold the latter against outward withdrawal, and also to hold the same against inward movement with suflicient resistance to allow nails or screws to be forced Y into the outer end of the plug in attaching an external member, as a ground a, to the adjacent face of the wall.

When the arms 8 are forced apart by the insertion of the plug 3, the other arms 9 are forced against the inner face of the tile A by the same means, thus limiting the degree of separation of the arms 8-, and at the same time causing the flange -2at the outer end of the tube V l to be drawn firmly against the outer face of the wall A, thus assuring posltive securement of the tube against axial movement when once clamped in the wall by the insertion of the plug which is also firmly held against axial movement relatively to the tube by the teeth -10. The ground w may be secured to the outer end ofthe plug by any suitable fastening means, as a nail or screw -a-.

In preparing the tile wall for the reception of the fastening device, a hole -?2 of sufficient *size to receive the tube and inwardly folded gripping members 1 is made in the wall by a suitable tool, opposite sides of the hole being enlarged at-bto receive the lugs 6 and adjacent portions of the gripping members, as shown more clearly in Fig. t. r

When the fastening device is used in solid walls, as A, the arms -9- of the gripping members are omitted, as shown in Figs. 5"and 6, while the hole, as C, may be of sufficient depth to receive the entire length of the tube -1 from which the base flange -2-- is omitted. The form of the hole -C- in the wall is,- however, similar to the hole Z ,inthat it is providedwith branch passages similar to the passages b When inserting the tube into either of the holes in the wall, the lugs and gripping members are folded inwardly, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and registered with the branch passages b and after the tube is inserted a sufficient distance into the openings, it is turned a quarter turn to bring the lugs 6- and gripping members -4- out of alinement with the passages -b, thus preventing withdrawal of the fastening device before the plug is inserted.

By inserting the plug, asshown in Fig. '6, the outer edges of the gripping members 1"- are forced against the walls of the opening C- which is gradually enlarged from the outer end inwardly.

The operation of my invention will now be readily understoodupon reference to the foregoing description and accompanying Copies of this patent may be obtained for drawings, and it is evident that the detail constructionof the various parts of the fastening device may be changed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and, therefore, I do not limit myself to the .pre cise construction shown and described.

What. I claim is:

. 1. A wall fastener comprising a hollow member adapted to be inserted in an opening in aWall, a grippingmember movable in an opening in one side of the hollow memher and adapted to engage a portion of the wall at oneside of the opening therein, and a non-rotatable wood plug tightly fitted in the hollow member and engaging a portion of the gripping member to force the same into holding engagement with the wall, said gripping member having a tooth or spur adapted to embed itself in the wood plug as the'latter is driven into the hollow member.

' 2. In a wall fastener, the combination of atube openat ts outer end and adaptedto be inserted in an vopening in members pivoted to opposite sides-of the tube and provided with wall-engaging portions and other portions projectingi to the tube some distance from their pivots, and 'a wood plug slidably inserted in the tube against: the inwardly projecting portions of hers against the wall, said gripping members having teeth for engaging a wood plug and holding the latter against withdrawal.

3. In a device of the character described, a'hollow member adapted to be inserted (in an opening in a wall and havingan opening n one side, an angular gripping: membei a wall, gripping the gr pping members for forcing said mem- I pivoted to said hollow member and having one of its arms movable throughsaid opening and provided with a toothed inner edge and its other arm adapted to engage the wall, and meansslidably inserted inthe hollow member for engaging the toothed arm five cents -eaeh, -by addressing the Commissioner otlatents. -Washington, 1D .6. r 

